The Grudge
by Epic Laughter
Summary: Eusine still hasn't forgiven Kris for catching Suicune back in the day. How will he react once he comes face to face with her again? An old oneshot that I still enjoy. Please review if you want to.


**A.N.: This was written a long time ago, and I find the lack of Crystalshipping fanfiction to be sad, to say the least. Still, it's not that bad, and I hope a bit of fluff will make my fellow Crystalshippers smile!**

No matter where Eusine went on his travels, he never forgot to trek back to Ecruteak City every Wednesday. He had made an agreement with his best friend, Morty, to return to that town for a visit each week. The visits were rarely eventful; they usually consisted of talking while sitting around Morty's house or while walking around town, but seeing his friend never failed to make Eusine happy. Eusine was…a difficult person to deal with, so he never got to have any _real_ conversations when he was traipsing all over Johto. Morty was different, he grew up with Eusine. Morty was used to Eusine's quirks, and Eusine was used to his.

Today, they opted to sit on the steps in front of The Burned Tower. A monk poked his head out the door with the intentions of shooing away the loiterers, but Morty glanced over his shoulder at him and shot him a little wave. The monk's eyes widened in realization and he slid the door shut without saying a word. Eusine smirked. Being a Gym Leader certainly had its perks…

Morty turned his attention back to Eusine. "So, I've been wondering…" Morty drawled, plucking a black thread off of his sweater. "That girl you were always talking about a few months back…the one with the blue hair?"

Eusine's brows shot up. He had completely flushed her from his mind a few days after he witnessed her catch Suicune. She had been a nonstop source of frustration for him; she wasn't half as fascinated with Suicune as Eusine was, and yet the magnificent legendary Pokémon had been interested in _her._ When Eusine was pursuing Suicune, he couldn't help noticing how much the girl's path crossed with the Pokémon's. At first he chalked it up to coincidence, but after the fifth time it happened, he knew Suicune had chosen that girl. Aaagh, he still felt his entire body heat up with jealousy even when he just _thought_ of that girl's face!  
Morty didn't notice that Eusine had clenched his hands into fists and was rapidly turning a shade of red that matched his bowtie very well. "Whatever happened to her?" Morty continued, crossing his arms. "You talked about her almost as much as you talked about Suicune…" One corner of Morty's mouth lifted into a devious smirk. "Did you have a thing for her?"

All of the memories of the girl instantly shot by in flashes in Eusine's mind. Her passionate pursuit of strength, her persistence and her constant talk of her ambitions, the way her blue eyes widened in awe the day that Suicune came right up to her, how she had the _nerve_ to smile guiltily at Eusine and say she was 'sorry' when she picked up the Ultra Ball she used to catch Suicune…

"She…" Eusine found his voice at last and busied his hands by smoothing his suit. "She…took something _very important_ away from me." Eusine's voice sounded heavy, like he was about to cry.

Morty barely resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. "You're _still_ hung up on Suicune?"

"I have spent _all_ of my life hearing stories about Suicune!" Eusine slammed a fist into the stair he was sitting on and immediately regretted it. "I pursued it for _years_ and it still chose _her!"_ Eusine griped as he massaged his injured knuckles. "I am just as good a Trainer as she was, when we fought we were both down to our last Pokémon and I'm one hundred percent sure she won by luck!" He heaved a heavy, heavy sigh. "What did Kris have that I didn't?" he grumbled under his breath. "I've seen her in passing since then. She's tried to talk to me, but…I pretended not to hear."

"Geez, the only thing you have for this Kris girl is a gigantic vendetta, huh?" Morty shook his head. "It wasn't _her_ fault Suicune chose her, you know. I think you should apologize for being such a jerk." Morty rose to his feet, ascended two steps, and then grabbed onto Eusine's arm. "Come on, I have a surprise for you." Morty yanked Eusine upward and began leading him towards the center of town.

"Morty, wait, what-?" Eusine's eyes widened and he tried to jerk his arm away, but Morty's grip was firm.

"Don't ask questions!" Morty gave Eusine a fierce look and Eusine let out a small whimper of compliance. If he kept struggling, he'd probably rip a sleeve. This suit cost him an arm and a leg, he certainly didn't want to have to replace it…

As soon as Morty parted the curtains to the Ecruteak Dance Theater, Eusine spotted a familiar pair of blue pigtails in the small crowd seated in front of the stage. While Morty responded to the enthusiastic, high-pitched greetings of the dancers, Eusine kept his eyes on that hair, feeling the electric currents of envy surging through his body again.

The girl that the pigtails were attached to turned her head to see what the dancers were going nuts about and made immediate eye contact with Eusine. Much to his surprise, she smiled. The same sheepish "whoops-I-caught-Suicune-right-in-front-of-you" smile that she gave him several weeks ago.

"How did you know _she_ was here?" Eusine hissed through clenched teeth, elbowing Morty in the ribs.

"I saw her go in when I was on my way to meet you," Morty whispered right back.

When Eusine looked back at Kris, he was surprised to see that she had gotten up and was heading over to him. Geez, even after all of those times he brushed her off, she _still_ wanted to speak with him? He shot Morty a pleading look but all Morty did in response was whisper: "Be nice."

Kris stopped right in front of the two of them, still wearing that smile that made all of the painful memories come flooding back to Eusine. She fiddled with her bag and said: "Hi again, Eusine…"

Eusine grunted in response, but he blurted "HI" when Morty frowned and kicked him in the shin.

"I keep seeing you around, huh?" Kris shuffled her feet a bit. "You never talk to me anymore, though. Back when I was getting my Badges, you used to talk to me all the time…why'd you stop talking to me?"

Eusine stared at her like a stupid Magikarp and the sun rose in Kris' eyes after a few moments.

"OHHHH, I think I know," Her smile changed into an accusing scowl and she planted a fist on her left hip. "You're mad that I caught Suicune, aren't you?"

Eusine's hands clenched into fists and his face flushed again.

"Eusine, don't-" Morty tried to put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, but Eusine smacked it away like a bug.

"MAD is an understatement, you…you…" Eusine's hands shook. "You KNOW how much time I spent tracking it! How much I studied the legends! How many miles I walked! And you had the NERVE-"

"Eusine," Kris' scowl eased up and her voice was calm. Eusine stopped his rant in its tracks, but his chest still heaved. He looked around and realized pretty much everyone was staring at him. Oh well, that was nothing new.

"The reason I've been trying to talk with you is I wanted to ask you if you wanted to meet Suicune," Kris dug around in her bag for a moment and produced the very Ultra Ball that held the legendary Pokémon. "I've been carrying it around for the next time we met, but you kept ignoring me…"

Eusine paled as his eyes fixed on the Ultra Ball. After a long pause, he wheezed: "Y-you're _kidding."_

Kris looked at him like he was a raving idiot, which wasn't too far off the mark, honestly. "Eusine, I _know_ how important Suicune is to you," Kris planted her free hand on her hip. "I wouldn't kid about something like this. I'm not a _jerk."_

"Unlike someone else I know…" Morty grumbled to himself. He patted that someone else on the arm and said "What did I tell you, Eusine?"

Eusine didn't respond; he was still fixated on the Ultra Ball-_the one with Suicune in it oh Arceus this was unbelievable-_his eyes wide and his hands trembling.

"I'll take that as a 'yes,'" Kris smirked and reattached the Ultra Ball to her belt, Eusine's eyes following it as she lowered it and placed it at her hip. She looked at Morty with an almost bashful smile. "Do you want to come, too?" Talking to important Trainers always made Kris a little nervous.

Morty shook his head. "Something's telling me I should leave you two-sorry, _three-_alone." He grinned at Eusine, silently wondering why and how his friend was staying so quiet. Morty would have expected Eusine to jump around and froth at the mouth if he was given the offer to meet Suicune.

"Oh, okay, that's cool," Kris tugged on Eusine's cape and stood on her toes so only he could hear her speak. "Hey, snap out of it, I'm not letting Suicune out in here," she said under her breath. "Let's go to Route 38. Less people. I don't want to make a big spectacle."

Eusine nodded and made a small, quivery excited noise in response, finally letting a grin overtake his face. Without even bothering to ask, he hooked his arm through Kris' and flew out the door, practically dragging her behind him.

"Where are _they_ heading in such a hurry?" Morty heard a delicate voice say behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that it was one of the Kimono Girls, an inquisitive look on her powdered face.

"That's a secret," Morty said as mysteriously as he could manage, winking at the dancer before parting the curtains to the theater and leaving himself. Little did Morty know, what exactly Eusine and Kris did became a very common topic for between-performance gossip with the Kimono Girls that week.

* * *

Suicune was even more beautiful up close.

Kris thought Eusine looked more than a little strange, gazing at the Legendary Beast with his jaw slack and his knees shaking. Suicune apparently thought the same, since it stood by Kris' side and gave her a pointed look.

"You remember him, huh?" Kris shot Suicune a half-smile, patting it on the back. "His name is Eusine. He's very dedicated to all of the legends of Johto, Suicune. Yours was always his favorite." She looked at Eusine fondly, even though the color was starting to drain from his face. That really didn't help how weird he looked. "He was a very formidable rival for your capture; I figured the least I could do was let him get a better look at you."

It was at that moment that Eusine crumpled to the ground, overwhelmed with joy, jealousy, jubilation, and countless other emotions that may or may not have started with J. Both Kris and Suicune jumped a mile. Kris had expected Eusine to be ecstatic, but she certainly didn't expect him to _faint._ She and Suicune shared a look, and Kris cracked a smile and burst into insane laughter. Suicune snorted and shook its majestic head, lying down on the grass at Kris' feet.

Kris was still cracking up as she searched in a bag for a blanket, as she wrapped it around Eusine, and was still chortling with a mouthful of energy bar while she was waiting for him to wake up.

* * *

After about twenty minutes, Kris was starting to get a little worried. "Um, Eusine?" She moved closer and kneeled down next to him, jostling his shoulder. "Are you okay?" Even Suicune was a little confounded; it padded over to Eusine's side and nudged his face. Eusine stirred a bit in response, but that was it.

"This calls for drastic measures," Kris' brow lowered in determination. "Suicune, use Waterfall on him."

Suicune looked at her like she was insane and Kris added "Um…can you do it at about five percent power?" The legendary beast nodded and roared up at the sky. A stream of water with barely half the force of a Water Gun attack shot downwards and hit Eusine right in the face. His eyes shot open and he jolted upright, coughing and spluttering.

When he caught his breath he looked back and forth between Suicune and Kris. "Suicune…Kris…hi," he managed to say, wringing out a handful of hair. "…What just happened? Why am I on the ground and why is my face all wet?"

"You got overwhelmed when you saw Suicune and fainted," Kris stated simply. "Suicune had to use Waterfall on your face to wake you up…at 5% power, since full power would probably have killed you."

"Really?" Eusine blinked and Suicune gave a growl that sounded affirming. He chuckled a bit and beamed at Suicune. "Do you blame me though, Kris? Almost eleven years, I've wanted to get a good look at Suicune…" He gestured to the Pokémon as if it were the cure for every deadly disease on the planet. "And here it is!" He leaned forward with his chin in his hands, still grinning like the happy maniac he was. "It's overwhelming."

"You can touch Suicune too, if you want," Kris offered. "It doesn't bite unless I tell it to." Eusine took that as an invitation to hug the beast, and Suicune gave Kris another sharp look. Kris just shook her head and told it to be nice.

"Thanks, Kris," Eusine said, his words muffled by Suicune's purple mane.

"Any time," Kris laughed.

"No, really, for _everything,_" Eusine turned his head and made eye contact with Kris. "Thanks for not leaving when I passed out. ESPECIALLY thanks for not getting Morty," He shuddered a bit at that thought. "He'd never let me hear the end of that one. Don't tell him or I promise I'll destroy all that is near and dear to you." He squinted at Kris with mock accusation.

"My lips are sealed," Kris mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key.

"And, most of all-" Eusine rested his cheek against Suicune's mane. "Thanks for letting me see Suicune. Especially after I was such a stupid jerk to you."

"I don't blame you, I'd be pretty mad at you if you caught Suicune, not gonna lie," Kris admitted, wringing her hands. "Even if you chased it for years, I wanted to catch it, too! I'm not a very good sport…"

"Suicune really seems to like you, though," Eusine let out a sigh that Kris couldn't decide was envious or… adoring. "I don't blame it. I was pretty impressed with your determination; I didn't realize it until just recently!" Eusine finally let Suicune out of his embrace and it grunted and lied down on the ground a few feet away from the two of them. "I saw the admiration in your eyes the day Suicune walked right up to you for the first time. I was too jealous to see what a beautiful picture that was!" He threw his arms up in the air dramatically, his cape billowing and his eyes glittering. "We're cut from the same cloth!" Eusine leaned forward and grasped Kris' hands in his, an affectionate smile on his face. "We should do this more often."

"Sit in the grass with a legendary beast?" Kris cocked a brow.

"Spend time together, I mean!" Eusine squeezed her hands affectionately. "Though I wouldn't complain if we did that more often, too!" he added with a snicker. He kissed Kris' hand and she was surprised to feel her face heat up. "You're absolutely a lovely girl, Kris. Smart, strong, gorgeous, ambitious…" he cast a quick glance over his shoulder at Suicune. "…and _lucky."_

"Um…well…I'm also _seventeen_," Kris eyed her and Eusine's joined hands, her face flushing more and more with each passing moment. "Not to mention we…just started talking again…and-" Eusine placed a finger on her lips to silence her.

"Kris, I chased Suicune for ten years," Eusine said, not noticing that Suicune made a little snarl of irritation at that comment. "I can handle waiting for a girl, especially one like you."

It was Kris' turn to look at Eusine in disbelief. Eusine felt his heart sink a bit. He always had a tendency to come on too strong; that would explain why no girls ever-

His thoughts were brought to a grinding halt when Kris leapt forward and pulled Eusine into a tight embrace, burying her face in his caped shoulder. He froze for a moment, but then he grinned and hugged her right back.

"That was one of the nicest things anyone ever said to me," Kris admitted, pulling back a bit so her face was mere inches away from Eusine's. "I think we can give this a shot."

Eusine shot her a flirtatious grin. "I _knew_ you'd see things my-" Kris silenced Eusine's cocky voice with a quick, chaste kiss. Suicune looked over at them and told them to get a room, but of course neither of them understood it.

"You're going to have to work for more of those, Eusine," Kris smirked and rose to her feet, returning Suicune to its Ultra Ball. "When are you in town here, usually?"

"Every Wednesday," Eusine had a finger on his lips and was smiling like a loon.

"Keep an eye out for me, then," Kris winked. "I'll fly in whenever I get the chance."

* * *

Morty would live to regret letting Kris and Eusine go off alone. Eusine would talk to Morty until Kris showed up, and then he'd run off towards her like a Meowth after a ball of yarn. Morty would go hang out on the Bellchime Trail and complain to the monks every Wednesday for many months to come.


End file.
